Hefei, China (XNA) Apr 27, 2023
China will develop a satellite constellation named Queqiao, or Magpie Bridge, to provide communications, navigation and remote-sensing services for deep space exploration, according to a senior Chinese space expert. Speaking at the First International Deep Space Exploration Conference held in Hefei, the capital of east China's Anhui Province, Wu Yanhua, chief designer of the major project

Nottingham UK (SPX) Apr 27, 2023
The recent leak of Pentagon documents included the suggestion that China is developing sophisticated cyber attacks for the purpose of disrupting military communication satellites. While this is unconfirmed, it is certainly possible, as many sovereign nations and private companies have considered how to protect from signal interference. Nearly every aspect of our lives is enabled by satelli

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 26, 2023
A weird asteroid has just gotten a little weirder. We have known for a while that asteroid 3200 Phaethon acts like a comet. It brightens and forms a tail when it's near the Sun, and it is the source of the annual Geminid meteor shower, even though comets are responsible for most meteor showers. Scientists had blamed Phaethon's comet-like behavior on dust escaping from the asteroid as it's

Image: Captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission on 8 April 2023, this image shows Los Angeles and part of the hinterland in Southern California.

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The European Space Agency (ESA) is currently training five astronaut candidates for future missions to the International Space Station and beyond. Their training programme consists of three phases: The first phase is basic training, which covers medical exams, fitness assessments, and space programmes and systems. The second phase, the pre-assignment training, is advanced training in specific areas such as systems training, vehicle training, robotics and EVA-training. The third phase is mission-specific training, which is tailored to the tasks and experiments that astronauts will perform during their mission. ESA's astronaut training programme also includes training for exploration of

Cape Canaveral FL (UPI) Apr 28, 2023
As sea levels rise, NASA managers and engineers at Kennedy Space Center in Florida are keeping a wary eye on potential damage to critical launch structures and other buildings not far from the Atlantic Ocean. More than a decade ago, the ocean started to encroach on federally protected beaches, penetrating to within some 2,000 feet of critical infrastructure. Now, with more intense hurrican

Beijing, China (SPX) Apr 28, 2023
China plans to send one to three network backup satellites for the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) into space this year to improve the stability and usability of the constellation, according to the 13th China Satellite Navigation Conference on Thursday. As a national major sci-tech project, the BDS is a global navigation satellite system, constructed and operated independently by

Boca Raton FL (SPX) Apr 28, 2023
Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP) reports the receipt of a further milestone payment alongside completion of the screening of the industrial partners as well as trade studies that will support the acquisition process and system engineering for the Company's 300 spacecraft, $2.4 billion contract with Rivada Space Networks. Terran Orbital, through its wholly owned subsidiary Tyvak Nano

Moffett Field CA (SPX) Apr 28, 2023
The Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE) project team, jointly led by NASA and Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, envisions a way to make huge circular self-healing mirrors in-orbit to further the field of astronomy. Larger telescopes collect more light, and they allow astronomers to peer farther into space and see distant objects in greater detail. These next-generation large space observato

New Orleans LA (SPX) Apr 28, 2023
The 819-day calendar used by ancient Mayans has long stumped researchers, but anthropologists from Tulane University may have finally deciphered its secrets. Researchers long suspected the calendar followed astronomical events, specifically how long it takes a planet to appear in the same place in the night sky as seen from Earth, known as the synodic periods of planets. But, according to